Since we have some good advice about job hunting here, I'm going to add some points about creating a good resume/CV.
First of all, and this is important,
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T USE MICROSOFT WORD'S RESUME TEMPLATES...THEY SUCK BALLS. Here's why:
-They have a lot of stuff in the template that you not only don't need (objectives belong in your cover letter, not on your resume), but shouldn't be putting on your resume in the first place.
-They tend to look like crap.
-A template resume shows you put as little effort into your salesmanship as possible. Whether this is due to laziness (bad) or lack of computer skills (equally bad) isn't important, it shows a total lack of effort on your part.
You need to think of your resume as an advertisement for yourself - make sure it is pleasing to the eye yet not unprofessionally styled. It should contain all relevant information for the position you're applying for, yet not be long-winded. On the subject of length, the shorter your resume is, the better; a good rule of thumb is that it should be one single-sided page for every 20 years of your life. Since most of us here are between 20 and 30, two single-sided pages is more than adequate. Where I work, I've been known to take everything beyond the first two pages and chuck it in the trash...if you can't summarise yourself in that length of time, too bad.
So, what should you have on your two-page resume? First and foremost, in big, obvious letters at the top should be your name and contact information, including the best phone number to be reached at and a professional-looking email address; don't use your
sexyhot6969xo@hotmail.com address. This header should be at the top of every page of your resume, and it should be separated from the body by a single line border, as you would expect any good corporate letterhead to be.
Next, you should detail your relevant work experience. Indicate where you worked and when you worked there, as well as provide a brief description of what your responsibilities were. The length of your description should be inversely proportional to the specialisation and level of responsibility of your job. If you sold TVs at at Best Buy, you probably don't need to say anything about that. If you were the SMS Manager for an charter airline with direct reports, for example, I would expect at least a couple of sentences. Don't bother detailing the eight or ten McJobs you worked in high school and college, especially if you quit/were fired after only six weeks.
After that, put a brief description of what you like to do in your off-time. This shows that you're a human being who could potentially get along with your co-workers, as opposed to a cold, WorkBot 9001 who couldn't socialise if its existence depended on it. That said, saying something like "my interests include eating scrap metal, cliff diving into shallow water, shooting heroin and drinking until I black out" isn't a good idea.
Finally, you should provide two or three references that will portray you in a positive light and that can be contacted with a relative lack of difficulty. Don't put "references available by request"; I don't want to have to call you long-distance to find out who I can and cannot call, only to find out that they are unreachable. One of these references can be a character reference; in fact, I would highly encourage you to have one, no matter what your applying for.